Vintage Fire Engine Gets All Wrapped Up

Packexe Ltd, the world’s leading supplier of innovative protection film products, was recently asked by the Bristol Aero Collection Trust to securely wrap a 1962 fire engine and a number of vintage aeroplanes as they make their way out of storage to be displayed for the first time at Aerospace Bristol.

Packexe® wrapped the vintage fire engine using the reusable Packexe® Fleece and Packexe® Glass & Glazing, from their self-adhesive protection film range, which is quick to install, leak-proof and slip-resistant, to protect it during transit.

CEO and founder of Packexe®, Andrew Orchard, says, “It was an honour for us to be invited to Aerospace Bristol and to help their team to protect a vintage 28 RHY for its next journey to a special display. The engine is part of the history of Aerospace Bristol and we are delighted that it will be coming out of storage to be appreciated. Packexe® self-adhesive protection film is a simple but specialist product that can be applied to unusually shaped objects with relative ease and so was perfect to cover the entire engine.”

The engine, a Thorneycroft Airfield Crash Tender Registration 28 RHY, was built by Hampshire Car bodies in 1962 for the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Sporting a Rolls Royce B81 MK5Q engine, the 28 RHY has a Thorneycroft ‘Nubian’ six wheel drive chassis and gave fire fighters 800 gallons of water capacity, 90 gallons of foam and 200lb of Co2.

Retired in 1990, the engine had an illustrious career at Filton attending the rollout of Concorde 002 in September 1968, the Concorde’s first flight in 1969 alongside general airfield use. In addition, the tender stood in for the local fire brigade to attend workplace and domestic fires when required.

The engine has been loaned indefinitely to the Bristol Aero Collection Trust and came with several manuals and Civil Aviation Authority training booklets which help curators get a picture of the Company fire brigade’s duties and methods on a busy works airfield.